A BSkyB spokesman said: “The piece was withdrawn for further review. We stand by the story and, following that review, took the decision to republish on Monday.”

The agreement came to light in confidential documents that appeared to show Mr Ecclestone and the firm that owns F1 commercial rights, CVC, had struck separate deals with Ferrari and Red Bull.

The deal was part of their obligation to divide Formula One's revenues with all 12 teams through 2020 and was said to have involved asking Goldman Sachs for help placing some of its F1 shares.

Seven of the 12 racing teams met on Sunday to discuss the article.

The majority of the teams want negotiations to take place through a so-called Concorde Agreement with the industry's trade body, the Formula One Teams Association (Fota).

But Mr Ecclestone told the FT he did not recognise Fota: “Fota can’t sign anything with anyone.”

He reportedly declined to comment on the leaked documents.

A source said CVC needed a new Concorde Agreement to value F1 before any of its commercial rights were sold. Options include listing the sport in Singapore, which would establish a price for prospective buyers to meet.

Others described the agreement as a way of dealing with “the Ecclestone problem”, which is how F1 carries on without the man who has run it for 50 years.

The decision to remove the article raised further questions over Sky News's independence. It follows Rupert Murdoch's News Corp's bid to buy out the rest of BSkyB, on top of its existing 39.1 per cent share.

News Corp offered to split Sky News off as a separate company after Ofcom investigated. Last year, News Corp had to abandon its takeover of BSkyB after the phone hacking scandal emerged, months after spinning Sky News off as a separate company to avoid media plurality concerns. The move meant Rupert Murdoch's News Corp lost control of the news channel.